Czech Dhimmitude

Islamization in the Czech Republic is not the same urgent problem that it is in most of Western Europe. The Czechs came late to the Multicultural Party, having spent the first forty years of it under the boot of their Soviet comrades. All those years of experience with a centrally imposed totalitarian utopia have made them wary of outlandish ideologies.

The number of Muslim immigrants in Czechia is relatively small. The latest figures I have are from 2004, and show somewhat over twenty thousand Muslims in a population of approximately ten million — under one quarter of one percent. No doubt the number of Muslims has increased over the last four years, but accurate figures are hard to come by.

Still, it’s obvious that the blade of the scimitar is not yet at the Czechs’ throat. But that doesn’t stop the politically correct appeasers from engaging in preemptive surrender.

Here’s the latest story. A nationalist party, after hearing about Geert Wilders’ problems with Network Solutions, is offering to host his movie on their servers in the Czech Republic.

And how has the Czech government responded?

By staunchly supporting the right of their citizens to express themselves freely, right?

By asserting that forty years of Soviet domination has made their nation acutely sensitive to the importance of free speech, perhaps?

Wrong. The ruling party in Czechia has done itself proud as full dhimmi member of Eurabia.

First, an article from Al-Arabiya:

A Czech nationalist party has offered to host a film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders critical of Islam on its website, prompting denunciations Monday from mainstream politicians.

The National Party, which has no seats in parliament, said it was ready to host the 15-minute film “in reaction to the cowardice of Dutch and European Union politicians who themselves spread panic and are unable to support the chairman of the Freedom Party Geert Wilders in his fight against Islam.”

To do so would be a response to “Islamic terrorists whose blackmail and attacks damage our countries,” the far-right party added in a statement seen on its website.

Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer attacked the offer as “stupid”.

[…]

Dutch officials have unsuccessfully urged Wilders not to air the film, fearing a repeat of violent protests that erupted in many countries when European newspapers printed cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

Wilders has said he will release it “before April 1” on the Internet if no conventional broadcaster will show it.

Several Muslim countries — including Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran and Afghanistan — have already protested against his plans.

A Dutch newspaper that has seen some of the opening images said it depicts the cover of the Koran, and then “a decapitation in Iraq, a stoning in Iran and an execution in Saudi Arabia”.

And look at this NYT-style bit of editorializing on the part of AFP (which is the original source of the article):
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The National Party is known for its xenophobic views and calls for a resurgence of conservative national values. It frequently makes headlines with sparsely-attended demonstrations against immigrants and minorities.

I’m also known for my xenophobic views, and have also called for a resurgence of conservative national values. And I know what happens to anyone who asserts the right of a nation to control immigration and maintain its traditional culture: we’re all racists, bigots, white supremacists, xenophobes, Islamophobes, neo-Nazis, fascists, and any other derogatory epithet that can be mined from the bottomless lexicons of leftist insults.

As it happens, the National Party (Národní strana) has a reputation for anti-Semitism and being non-supportive towards Israel. I’m no expert on Czech matters, so I’ll let our commenters weigh in on the justice of this characterization.

But my point is that, to the MSM in Czechia or anywhere else, we’re all the same. All cats are black in the darkness of the legacy media, and all conservatives are extremist, marginal, bigoted, and racist. That’s just the way it is.

Regardless of the political opinions of the National Party, and despite the hurt feelings of Muslims about a movie they haven’t seen, the Czech government should have stood behind the free speech rights of a group of its citizens who offered asylum to Geert Wilders’ persecuted movie.

But they didn’t. They did the EU Dhimmi Two-Step, the dance with which we’ve become all too familiar in the last few years. According to CeskéNoviny.cz:

The offer of the Czech nationalist National Party (NS) to place on its foreign server the controversial anti-Islamic film of Dutch ultra-right MP Geert Wilders is an absurd idea of some ignorant persons, Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer said today.

Jeronym Tejc, head of the opposition Social Democrat (CSSD) security commission, and former interior minister for CSSD Frantisek Bublan also condemned the NS’s offer as irresponsible.

The film release on the web would pose a security risk to the Czech Republic’s citizens, the politicians said.

“I believe that silly ideas of some idiots will not draw attention. The best way…is to ignore it, because they need exactly a media show and promotion,” Langer (senior ruling Civic Democrats, ODS) said.

He added he is convinced that Wilders’s film would not be on the web in the end.

Langer stressed the NS has no support in Czech society and the Czech Republic distances itself from the nationalists’ activities.

“I think that this step by the nationalists will only unnecessarily escalate tension,” Tejc told CTK.

“It increases the risk of possible terrorist threats in the Czech Republic in the future,” Tejc warned, adding that the nationalists want to promote themselves at the expense of citizens’ safety.

Note that because some deranged psychopaths might commit violence, the people who host the movies are the criminals, and not the poor misunderstood Muslims who do the maiming, killing, burning, and looting:

If the film were really released on the website, the police should investigate whether this act was a crime or not, Tejc added.

It is potentially risky as it can stir up indignation, probably not among the Muslim community in the Czech Republic but abroad, Bublan said.

He recalled that the Dutch authorities did not allow to broadcast Wilders’ film called Fitna, an Arabic word used to describe discord, in fears that the film might stir up protests in the local strong Muslim community.

If the film stirred up racial hatred, its release could be prosecuted as a crime, Bublan said, adding he does not know the film.

Nobody knows the film, but everybody seems certain that screening it would be a crime. Threats of murder, burning cars or buildings, violent street actions — those are trivial distractions, not worth the attention of the authorities.

But making movies like this — now that’s a crime. Lock ’em up and throw away the key!


Hat tips: Viktor Svoboda and TB.